In Medias Res
by Saiyan Jedi
Summary: Yami, Marik, Bakura, and Seto are all being contacted and threatened by a mysterious Item holder. The situation is relatively under control until the hikaris and Mokuba get involved. One character death and more are coming.
1. Chapter One

I'm very sorry to all who reviewed. I had to delete the story because ff.net was being stupid and screwed over the chapters. When I had two chapters, it said I had one. It reversed the order. I tried to post an authors note to explain, but it wouldn't let me post it. If this deletes the reviews I had – which I bet it will – I apologize to those who reviewed. I still have the review responses at the end of chapter two, if it orders the chapters right this time. If you can't remember what you said in your review, tell me and I'll post what you said in the third chapter. The following is the story, exactly as it was when I originally posted it.

Saiyan Jedi: This may be a little weird. I got the idea when I got pissed at school and wanted to hit something.

Kageka: we don't own a thing!

Dragon Child: this is in Yugi's POV.

When I woke up this morning Yami wasn't there. Since he got his own body, we've been alternating sleeping in the bed and in the chair at my desk and he had slept at the desk the night before. But when I got up he wasn't there. Not that that's weird or anything, but then I heard someone in the bathroom. I got dressed and went to the bathroom and the door was open. So I looked in and the only sign that anyone had been in there was a dent in the wall. The wall is tile. Anyone who could make a dent that big would have to have bloody knuckles. So I went downstairs.

Downstairs, Yami was at the breakfast table, eating some toast. His knuckles looked normal. I looked at Grandpa, who was standing next to the coffee machine. No bloody knuckles there either. I glanced at my own knuckles, afraid that I'd sleepwalked. They were normal too. Weird, eh?

Anyways, I grabbed some food and went to walk to school with Joey, Ryou, Tea, and Tristan and Yami stopped me.

"I'll walk today, too." he said and grabbed our backpacks and handed mine to me and we walked out the door. Usually he rode the bus because under normal circumstances he wasn't awake enough to walk. But I guess today was different.

"Good morning, guys." Tea said to us when we met her outside the shop.

"Morning." Yami grunted.

"Good morning, Tea." I said cheerily.

"Hey, Yugi! You awake for once, Yami?" Joey called to us, running down the street, late as usual.

"Good morning, Joey." I said with a smile. Yami glared at Joey slightly before rolling his eyes. Tristan crossed the street to join us and merely nodded to us and we started walking. A few blocks down, we met Ryou near his house.

"Good morning." He said. Everyone nodded or greeted him, except Yami. He just looked around and then nodded in greeting to Ryou.

"Where's Bakura?" Joey asked. Bakura usually followed us to school, even though he didn't go to school like Yami. I think Bakura is always just looking to pick a fight with Yami.

"He got home late last night and wouldn't tell me where he had been or anything and he left before I got up." Ryou shrugged.

"When we start seeing "wanted" posters in the post office with his picture, we'll worry. Until then…" Tristan shrugged. Everyone laughed, including Yami. But I thought a second. Yami hadn't gotten home until late as well… it was probably just a coincidence, but I couldn't help but wonder.

At school, when I saw him, Yami seemed a little out of it. I wasn't quite sure why, but I resolved to find out after school.

But I couldn't find him after school. I searched all over the school until Joey, Tea, Tristan, and Ryou threatened to walk home without me. I finally agreed, figuring that Yami had ridden the bus home.

But he wasn't there either. It was beginning to worry me, so I called Ryou.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Ryou, this is Yugi. Is Bakura there? Don't give him the phone or anything, I just want to know if he's home." I said.

"No. Why?"

"Yami isn't home either, and I can't tell if he's been home at all or not since school. I'm thinking maybe they're up to something." I shrugged, even though I knew Ryou wouldn't see the shrug.

"I was thinking the same thing. Should we do something about it when they get home?"

"I was going to ask Yami, and I suggest you ask Bakura as well. We can compare their stories and-" the doorbell rang. "Hold on a sec. I've got to answer the door." I set the phone on the counter and went to answer the door. I gasped at what I saw. Yami and Bakura were there. They looked terrible, both were beaten and bloody and Yami was unconscious. Bakura looked as if he was half dragging Yami. I couldn't say anything. I just moved out of the doorway and let Bakura pull Yami inside and set him on the couch. I grabbed the phone and said into it, "You'd better get over here."

"Why? You sound like you've seen a ghost."

"You'll know when you get here. See you in a few minutes." I hung up the phone and put it back. I stared at Bakura until I found my voice. "What… what happened to you two?" Then I noticed Bakura's bloody and partially scabbed knuckles.

Saiyan Jedi: CLIFF HANGER!!! YAY!

Kageka: you don't do cliffhangers.

Saiyan Jedi: I do now. Anyways, review and tell me what you think should happen. It'll have something to do with this beauty. *Holds up MY Item, the Millennium Scarab *

Kageka: I come from that thing.

Dragon Child: so do I.

Saiyan Jedi: I'll take reviews for a month, and then I'll decide what was generally said and go from there. NO YAOI! But, I don't mind blood, gore, and character deaths. A prize for whoever can guess what the title means. A hint – it's in LATIN! Carpe diem!


	2. Chapter Two

Saiyan Jedi: Okay, an author I rather respect told me that it is not a good idea to rely on reviewers to continue a story, so I will take his advice.

Kageka: you're only taking his advice because you're in his crossover.

Saiyan Jedi: Not true! It's just it's really hard to go on the advice of your reviewers when you have four total. Besides if I go by my original plan, by the time this is over, I bet the Doom Arc would be over! (Good considering that the Doom Arc hasn't even begun on Kids WB.) Review replies at the bottom and in alphabetical order – if I'm not too lazy to organize it. ^_- (Because we all know you're just gonna look for your own and you'll skip the rest of them and I know it's a hassle to look over them all when the author just happens to be long-winded.) And I don't own a thing.

Dragon Child: Still Yugi's POV unless otherwise noted!

"What are you staring at, twerp?" Bakura asked me suddenly.

"Your knuckles! They're all bloody." I said, thinking back to the bathroom.

"So?" he demanded.

"Well, Ryou said that you were gone before he got up, and I know someone dented the tile in the bathroom, and you came here with Yami and both of you look like you just got out of a street fight." I explained quickly. Talking was so much easier now that there was a topic.

"If the pharaoh wants to tell you what happened, he can, but until then, Ryou's the only one I'm telling anything to." Bakura said and sat down. I almost told him not to get blood on the couch, but Yami was doing a good enough job of that. After a few minutes (in which I stupidly stood around doing nothing except looking awkward) I heard the doorbell ring. I ran to answer it and found Ryou there, looking a little ticked off.

"What's going on, Yugi?" he demanded. Then he did a double take. "You look pale. What's wrong?"

"See for yourself." I said and stood aside to let him in. he walked in and into the living room and gasped.

"What happened?" he asked, astonished.

"I don't know how much the pharaoh wants to tell his hikari, but I know what I want to tell you, so come here." Bakura said, standing.

"No. He has even more of a right to know about this than I do. Shouldn't you call an ambulance, Yugi?" Ryou asked.

"Right!" I said, not knowing how I could have forgotten to.

"No. I know that the pharaoh doesn't want to get anyone involved in this and neither do I." Bakura snapped.

"But he needs help!" I protested.

"Bandage him up yourself, then." Bakura shrugged.

"I'll help." Ryou volunteered and took off the light jacket he was wearing. I nodded and got our medical supplies and the two of us did the best job we could. Bakura helped – sorta – by watching us and pointing out what we were doing wrong.

"He ought to come to any time now." Bakura said and went into the kitchen.

"Don't touch anything electrical!" I shouted at him, remembering how bad Yami was at using electrical equipment.

"I'll go get something to. You want anything?" Ryou asked kindly.

"A soda, I guess." I muttered, looking back at Yami. I was worried. More worried than I would admit at the time. Yami was like a brother to me, but more. We shared the same soul, so we were far closer than any brothers could ever be. I knew that if he got too seriously hurt, I would be devastated. I was yanked out of my musings by a low groan.

"Yugi?" Yami asked, opening his eyes.

"Yami, you're okay!" I said, wanting to hug him. But he was hurt and Bakura was here – he'd never let Yami live it down.

"Yeah. Is the tomb robber here?" he groaned.

"You called, pharaoh?" Bakura asked, coming back into the room with an apple in his hand, a large bite taken out of it.

"Did you tell them anything?" Yami asked, trying to sit up. He winced and held his ribs and froze to let the pain go down. I opened up the link a little to take some of the pain he was feeling and he gave me a grateful smile as he sat up the rest of the way.

"No. Ryou won't let me tell just him anything." Bakura snorted. "His sense of right and wrong is far too strict."

"Not strict enough. You still managed to get beat up." Ryou said, handing me my soda.

"Whatever, vessel." Bakura growled.

"So, what happened?" I asked Bakura and Yami.

"You ought to get him bandaged up too." Yami said, ignoring my question.

"If you'll tell us afterward." I said, giving him the puppy dog eyes.

"Alright, aibou." Yami gave in after one glance at my big, watery eyes. Ryou and I bandaged up Bakura as well as we could and I turned to Yami.

"Now, what happened?" I asked.

"We'll only tell you as much as you need to know." Bakura started.

"But this is what's going on …"

Saiyan Jedi: am I mean or what?

Kageka: yeah. Now they won't review.

Saiyan Jedi: speaking of which… RESPONSES!

Haku/Kohaku – Great one, Kohaku! She did sound like a cheerleader! Yuck! And, yes, I know cliffhangers are evil. But my favorite authors do them all the time. You included. This is just payback. *Hugs Yami plushy tightly * now if only I had the real thing… *gives both of you chocolate. * this soon enough? Better than what I originally planed - one month.

Kiarah – No, I was not watching over you as you typed! I was reading shonen jump. BIG DIFFERENCE! At least you think my writing has improved. You hate my stuff. Yeah, you BETTER run!!!

Pheonixfire-k – thanks. Like I said before, that one really sucked. I'm redoing it in time for Christmas '04, and hopefully I'll go more in depth than I did with that. Or did it just suck in general? It was done in some twenty minutes, though. I think I will have Yami act more like he does in the manga – btw are you gonna get the 4th one when it comes out in March, I am – it does sound enjoyable, except I'm usually not creative enough to come up with the scenarios. I'll think of something, though… hey cheer up you're not unpopular! You're on my favorite authors list! That has to count for something! Besides, I have FOUR reviews for this, and that's the most I have for any fic. You've got TONS!!! I freaked you out. Cool! And, thanks again. If my computer will work, this is pretty soon, right?

sky – okay. This soon enough?

Saiyan Jedi: WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! @-@

Dragon Child: they killed her! She's on review over load!

Kageka: we'll have to say the rest of her endnotes. *Reads off note card * "I'm really thankful to Haku, Pheonixfire-k, LoneWolf16, and Kairi-sama. All four of you are on my favorite authors list and you reviewed for this, or for some other fic of mine. The reason I'm so thankful is because there is a REASON you're on that list and that's because I like your work and respect you. For you to review and say good things about my work is really neat for me. I was jumping up and down in my seat the first time an author whose stuff I like – one of you four, I'm not sure which – reviewed for me. It kinda makes me feel like I'm really and ff.net author now, since I have the approval of other authors. I know that sounded really corny, but it's the truth."

Dragon Child: Okay, also, you people still have a chance to affect how the story goes! Just review and give an opinion, though now it won't be based on reviewer opinion, just affected.

Saiyan Jedi: *regains what little sense she had in the first place * okay, please review. And don't forget, carpe diem.


	3. Chapter Three

Saiyan Jedi: Hey again. If my computer accepted floppies all the time, I would be updating pretty quick. But as it is…

Kageka: no one has sent you a flame yet… that's good.

Dragon Child: Yeah, yeah. You're really mean in this chapter, SJ. And, by the way, we don't own a thing.

Kageka: *bursts out laughing *

Saiyan Jedi: what?

Kageka: Look! *points at computer, which displays the Yu-Gi-Oh page of ff.net, specifically a shonen ai fic that has Seto and Joey paired… but it's abbreviated SJ. *

Saiyan Jedi: not funny you demented dark.

Dragon Child: *trying to ignore the bickering yami and chibi behind her * Review replies at the end! Still Yugi's POV unless otherwise noted. `means thought`

The doorbell rang, interrupting Yami.

"You should answer that." Ryou said when it was obvious that I was going to ignore it. I stood and went to the door to find Joey, Tea, and Kaiba there.

`What's Kaiba doing here?` I wondered, but said aloud, "What brings you three here?"

"Joey and I were worried, Yugi. You and Ryou both seemed so … distracted during school and we thought that maybe something was wrong." Tea said hesitantly.

"I am here to see Bakura and Yami." Kaiba said and brushed past me.

"How'd you know that Bakura is here?" I asked, following him. I heard the door shut and turned to see Joey and Tea following me, Tea having shut the door.

"What are you doing here?" Yami asked Kaiba a little harsher than he normally would have. But I think I was the only one who noticed.

"I … the three of us need to talk. As well as Marik." Kaiba insisted. "He's on his way, but I suggest we go somewhere where we can talk in private.

"What's going on?" Tea asked, her shock at seeing Bakura and Yami so beat up finally lifting. But the trio ignored her and the doorbell rang again.

"I'll get it." I said and ran to the door and opened it. I saw a very scared Mokuba at the doorstep.

"I can't find Seto." He said.

"Your brother is here. And I think something is going on between him, Yami, Bakura, and Marik … but Ryou and I have yet to figure out what." I said.

"Seto, what are you doing here?" Mokuba called, running towards the living room. I was about to shut the door again when I heard a shout.

"Hey! Is that Yugi or Yami?" I turned to see Marik coming towards the game shop quickly, Malik reluctantly following him.

"Are you here to talk to Yami, Bakura, and Kaiba?" I asked, because I could tell from the look on Marik's face that he could see the lack of extra bangs on my head – telling everyone who knew what to look for which one I am.

"Yes. Do you think you and Ryou – if he's there – can keep Malik company? Ishizu doesn't trust either of us alone." Marik asked.

"I guess." I said, but inwardly I was thinking `Do we look like we're running a hotel or something?` I knew that I was acting odd, but I also knew that I was just frustrated that Yami still hadn't told me what was going on. After they came in I was about to shut the door when Tea and Joey came up behind me.

"We're going now." Tea said.

"Kaiba, Yami, and Bakura were giving us dirty looks." Joey explained and demonstrated a glare.

"Okay. See you at school." I sighed and closed the door after them.

"So, are you two… four now, gonna tell us what's going on?" I asked when I got back into the room.

"Sorry. We have to go." Marik said. Malik stood as if to leave, but his dark shook his head. "Not you and me, hikari… I meant me, Kaiba, Yami, and Bakura."

"What? Are you finally going to kill each other or what? Last one standing rules the world?" Malik asked.

"It would be helpful to know where you're going at least." Ryou said.

"No, vessel. We can't tell you. For your own good." Bakura said and the four of them left. After a few minutes, I checked the mind link between me and Yami to find it blocked from his end.

"Are your yamis blocking you as well?"  I asked and the other two hikaris nodded. I looked at the table and noticed something. "He left his keys! He knows we keep the door locked!"

"We'll just have to wait for a knock then." Mokuba suggested.

"Good thinking." Ryou smiled. We heard a knock on the door.

"That'll be them!" I said, jumped up, and ran to open the door, expecting to see Yami looking bashful and ready to admit that he had no idea where his keys went. But it wasn't Yami. It was someone with a golden beetle on their neck and a gun in their hand. I dived to the ground and I saw them tighten their finger, but I was shot despite my efforts. The bullet ripped right through my shoulder and I blacked out before I hit the floor.

Saiyan Jedi: *gives the world an evil smile. * do I like cliffhangers or do I like cliffhangers?

Kageka: you REALLY like cliffhangers.

Dragon Child: too much for your own good. Someone will send you a virus for that if you don't stop.

Saiyan Jedi: the computer connected to the net is my parents'. Why should I care if it dies? Anyways, REPLIES!!!!!

Dragon Child: In alphabetical order, too. Aren't you so proud of her?

Dark Magician Gurl – *blushes * Thank you.

Haku Ishatar – Oops! Forgot about how bad darks can get on a sugar high. ^^ Yay, cookies! I never thought this fic would go as far as it has, but support from reviewers is what keeps it going (and updates from reviewers who are also authors *hint hint *) Thanks for the kind words and the cookies!

Iced Blood – This chapter ought to give an insight on what the deal is with them. I actually am used to writing in first person because of a novel I'm writing that was originally intended to be in first person but isn't anymore. But without that kind of practice, it would be hard to write. About your side note: It was just a suggestion/question/whatever. You don't have to listen to me.

Phoenixfire-k – as long as it wasn't the face of the world… Interesting analogy, yes you can pay me $7.95! MWAHAHAHA! The chapters would be longer, but I always find a cliffhanger that I can stop at. Bad me! Thanks for putting me on your favorite authors list! I guess I do have something like a cult-like following… Does people reviewing for more than one chapter count? If so, then I AM well on my way… it just doesn't FEEL like it.

Saiyan Jedi: Whew! That was a lot! Carpe diem!


	4. Chapter Four

Saiyan Jedi: -_-; I've been neglecting this.

Kageka: Yeah, you have. SHAME ON YOU!

Saiyan Jedi: But it took me so freaking long to figure out that stupid sentence! And I didn't even use it!

Dragon Child: So? You could have gotten someone else to do it.

Saiyan Jedi: they're both against me! I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. This is the LAST intro chapter, I SWEAR!

Yami talking to hikari

^Hikari talking to yami^

~No POV~

Meanwhile, halfway across town, Yami flinched and felt his shoulder, almost as if he had been the one who was shot.

"What's your problem, pharaoh?" Marik asked, pausing. Even though circumstances had forced them to work together, they still disliked each other.

"I think Yugi's hurt." Yami said and opened up the mind link between he and his hikari.

Yugi, are you alright? he asked, trying to not sound as anxious as he felt. They were close to their goal and if something went wrong now, the entire plan was screwed.

Silence came from the other side of the link.

Yugi? Yami reiterated, and when he still heard nothing, he panicked, well as much as he can. Yugi, answer me! still nothing, so he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and told the others, "Yugi isn't answering. I think something happened to him."

"I'll ask Ryou if he knows anything." Bakura said. And opened up their link. Vessel! Did anything happen over there?

^Bakura? Something's wrong. Yugi answered the door, there was a shot, and by the time we got there he was gone, a bullet hole in the opposite wall and blood on the floor.^ Ryou said, sounding very frightened.

What about the other two and yourself, all unharmed?

^We're all fine, scared, but fine.^

We'll be right over. Bakura looked up, keeping the link open in the back of his mind just in case, and told the others what Ryou had said. Almost before he'd finished, Yami was running off towards the game shop.

The others followed, trying to keep up with the worried former pharaoh.

Ryou met them at the door and showed them the bullet hole and blood spot on the floor. "You need to tell us what's going on. Now." He said after the group had finished looking at the hole and spot.

"Alright. Come into the living room and we'll tell Mokuba and Malik as well." Seto said. When they were all in the living room, Seto started off. "This all started four days ago, when I received a strange e-mail. It read something along the lines of 'Lock your doors and warn the spirits, I am coming.' I would have thought nothing about it, except it was in my private e-mail, an account only two people not including myself know about and it was addressed 'former high priest'. So, I kept quiet until three days ago, when Marik called me about a strange letter he got, with no postage and no return address that read along the same lines but with instructions to tell me that I was neglecting what our mystery correspondent had told me to do. I of course told him about the e-mail then called Bakura and Yami."

Yami picked up from there, "Two days ago I got a letter, telling me that I would soon loose possession of my Puzzle, and that the others would loose their items. It also said that Seto would loose his power, whatever that is in this modern day. The signature, which was absent on the e-mail and Marik's letter, was a golden scarab. I called the other and we arranged to meet during the night, but we couldn't meet until last night. Originally we planned to tell you all about the situation as soon as we got the background information."

From there, Bakura began. "Then something happened that changed everything. Yesterday I got a letter that threatened all the hikaris and Mokuba. It said that we would get another letter today and if we did not comply to what they wanted, they'd kill you."

Then Marik spoke, "so we met last night and found out over the Internet that the signature on the letter to the pharaoh is a mysterious Egyptian artifact with a heavy curse on it. So heavy that people die within a day of touching it, and no one has ever been known to survive touching it. But it disappeared fifteen years ago during a solar eclipse."

"We suspect that it's some kind of rouge Millennium Item." Seto added, "and that the holder plans to use you four to get their Items and whatever power I supposedly held in Egypt." Seto still didn't quite believe in all that magic crap, but someone had found out somehow what his private e-mail account was, and he hadn't gotten any trace that anyone had hacked into his system to get to it. That required some deal of unexplainable phenomenon, magic or not.

"After we met, Bakura and I walked here talking. This is on his way home, and he stopped here to use the restroom. He was about to come out when Yugi woke up and I pushed him back into the bathroom, closing the door behind me. Then the letter arrived. As had all the previous letters, we turned around and there it was, with no explanation of how. The two of us were to go to the docks at two o'clock in the afternoon. Neither Marik nor Kaiba were to accompany us. Bakura punched the wall hard enough to leave a dent, which I'm sure Yugi saw this morning, then he left out the window and I made it out of the bathroom and downstairs to the breakfast table with time to spare." Yami added

"When we arrived at the docks, we were greeted by four large, burly men. They immediately rushed us and engaged us in a fight. When we tried to use shadow magic on them or even send them to the shadow realm they seemed impervious to it, so we ended up defeating them by pushing them into the water. None of them seemed to be able to swim very well, but they could float. Yami was badly injured and seeing as we're in the same nasty situation, I helped him back here."

"At about the time the two of them were fighting, Kaiba got another e-mail, telling him that the tomb robber and the pharaoh would be here and to call me and tell me to come here as well. Then it said to leave the game shop. No real instructions on where to go or how long to stay gone. Under normal circumstances none of us would be that stupid, but our hikaris were being threatened so we decided to go. When we came Yami and Bakura put up no argument because they knew that it was likely that we had received a letter and not them." Marik said.

"Of course we see now that the reason was so that whoever it is would have a hostage, but what could we do." Seto added.

"That's a lot to take in at one time." Malik muttered.

"Did you figure out what that scarab does?" Ryou asked.

"Taking into account what the scarab is in Egyptian mythology, we figured that it had something to do with life and death." Seto shrugged. "Perhaps we're right, perhaps we're wrong."

"I'm thirsty." Yami announced and got up and went into the kitchen.

"Bakura, how'd your wounds heal so fast? Yami's, too, they're almost completely healed."

"An abstract form of shadow magic. It helps our bodies heal, but if we act too strenuous soon after they heal, they'll rip open again easier."

"KAIBA, MARIK, BAKURA!" Yami shouted from inside the kitchen.

"What?" Seto asked and the three said males jumped up and ran into the kitchen, to discover Yami standing there with a letter of papyrus in his hand.

"Another one?!" Bakura groaned.

"It's a warning. They're taunting us, it says if we don't watch out what happened to Yugi might happen to the other hikaris or Mokuba."

"Let's get in there and watch them, then!" Marik snapped and went back into the living room. Bakura followed, but Kaiba stayed behind.

"Does it name anything specifically?" he asked Yami in what would be considered a gentle tone.

"No. I hope he'll be alright, though."

"He will be, Yami. He's strong. And we'll find him before anything bad happens."

~Yugi's POV~

I woke up slowly and I found myself in a cold dark room. I couldn't see anything, it was that dark. My shoulder stung, but also felt dry. I think perhaps they cleaned the wound.

"Oh, the poor boy. He's fallen right into the middle of things. Right in the middle of a plot several thousand years in the making." A cruel female voice said and through the darkness I could make out the glint of a golden scarab.

Saiyan Jedi: Okay, folks, you have as much explanation as the yamis and Seto have, that enough for you? And the quote from the villain was originally going to be in Latin, then she'd correct herself and translate it in the beginning of the next chapter or the end of this, but I realized that I don't know how to say that last half. And it's not nearly so dramatic the other way. Replies!

Haku: Bubble Tea? Anyways, by my reckoning, I did leave you with a cliffy, and then leave you hanging for a month. Oops!

Iced Blood: I wouldn't miss your story! You've got me hooked! I know I can jump around kinda fast. One second I'm thinking about anime, the next I'm thinking about a book I'm reading. I think I need a roadmap for my head.

Lone Wolf16: POTENTIAL! YEAH! Well actually, when does potential evolve into something else? My mom has a closet and room full of crap she insists have potential. But they are almost newer used as anything else? The plot has been collected, as far as the yamis and Seto know, y'all know too. But I still can't fine-tune the scarab's powers!

Reaver of Heaven: If they're in something life-or-death, yeah, he would. Glad you reviewed and please do so again!

Saiyan Jedi: Now that that's done – carpe diem!


	5. Chapter Five

Saiyan Jedi: **falls over and dies**

Kageka: If you people would not make her do that, I'm as eager to find out where this is going as y'all are!

Dragon Child: She has twelve reviews total, a max for her.

Kageka: **kicks SJ's limp form** She's either really dead or just out for a chapter. So…

Both: PARTY!

Dragon Child: **opens door and all sorts of anime characters stream in, decked out in party hats and party favors** Yami, if you will.

Yami: **blows on party favor** Saiyan Jedi, Dragon Child, and Kageka own nothing!

* * *

Yugi's POV

* * *

"What do you mean?" I asked, trying to sound timid.

"Do you really think I'll tell you, midget?" the woman said angrily.

"It's not like I can tell anyone else." I said with a shrug. Then I realized that I wasn't tied up. I sat up on the cot and looked around. Through the dim light I could tell that the floor was two different colors – one color near me and another about ten feet away from me.

"I'll tell you this much. This conflict goes back to when your yami was the pharaoh. You're in way over your head." She said and suddenly the lights came on. I saw that she was a girl about 15 or 16 who looked Egyptian. She was standing about five feet away, fingering the scarab.

"Is that a Millennium Item?" I asked, curious.

She glared at me, but then answered. "It is the Millennium Scarab."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Muto, you're pushing your luck." She said and walked away.

"One more thing, what's your name?" she stopped.

"_Hbny_, in your tongue, Ebony." And she walked away. "One more thing for you – if you wish to escape, be my guest… if you can get past the defenses of this place."

I stood and walked away form the bed, but the instant I touched the different colored floor, I was electrocuted.

* * *

No POV

* * *

Yami was jolted awake by a harsh pain all over his body, like an electric shock or something. He looked around and couldn't spot the source of his pain, and that left one option – it was a shadow of Yugi's pain. Yami shook his head. If he felt it that strong, then what kid of agony was his hikari experiencing?

"Yugi, Yami, I'm home!" He heard Grandpa yell. In all of what had been going on, Yami had forgotten about Grandpa, who'd been in Egypt with one of his American archeologist friends.

"This will not be good." Yami muttered, standing and walking out of the room to the hall. Grandpa was putting down his bags and looking around.

"Anyone home?" he asked.

"I am." Yami said, coming down the stairs.

"Where's Yugi?"

"That's a long story… and I know I should have called as soon as things started getting bad around here…"

"Stop beating around the bush, Yami. Where is Yugi?" Grandpa interrupted, giving Yami a glare that would whither Seto Kaiba. Yami bit his lip and then explained the situation.

"And after we explained it to the others, we decided to take a break for a while and rest." Yami finished.

"If anything happens to Yugi, I'll…" Grandpa said, but the doorbell rang, interrupting him.

"I'll get that." Yami said, almost running to the door. Boy, Grandpa could be SCARY when he was mad. Yami opened the door to see two police officers standing there, looking grave.

"Yami Muto?" one, a tall skinny woman whose badge read Officer O'Neil, asked.

"Yes." Yami said, almost unable to keep his voice steady.

"Can you come with us?" the other, a shorter man with a lot of muscle whose badge read Officer Greene, asked.

"Why?" Yami asked, feeling his mouth get dry.

"You are an acquaintance of Seto and Mokuba Kaiba, are you not?" O'Neil asked.

"I am."

"They were in a car crash. Before he blacked out, Seto Kaiba asked paramedics to bring you and two others to the hospital. Seeing as Seto Kaiba is a very famous person, they decided a police escort would be best." Greene replied and Yami blinked and had to keep his mouth from falling open. "We also have reason to suspect that it was not an accident."

"How are they?"

"Both are in ICU."

Yami ran through the hospital to the ICUs where the Kaibas were, pushing his way past several doctors and nurses. He arrived at the rooms – they were next to each other – to see Marik, Malik, Ryou, and Bakura there.

"So you were the other one notified?" Bakura asked, a slight amount of interest in his voice.

"Yeah. How are they doing?"

"Kaiba's almost well enough to be moved to a regular room, but they think they'll lose Mokuba." Ryou said, his voice cracking. He just barely stopped himself from crying. The three hikaris were very close to Mokuba and Malik was also close to tears.

"Look what they found at the scene of the crash." Marik said, handing Yami a piece of papyrus paper with a now familiar golden scarab on it.

"Things have gone too far. We need to find out who this person is. Fast." Yami said, adding quietly to the other yamis, "Before they kill someone."

"You don't think it'll go that far, do you?" Marik asked.

"I do." Yami said, shaking his head. "Mokuba is in bad shape, and Kaiba probably not far behind him. We don't know what's going on with Yugi and they've already threatened the hikaris and Mokuba."

"I agree with the pharaoh, as much as I hate to admit it." Bakura said with a sigh.

"Alright, so where are we going to look first. The only leads we've gotten are dead ends and Kaiba is currently unable to offer his assistance, which means that a vital part of our …" Marik stopped, trying to think of the right word.

"Our group, Marik." Yami whispered, "whether we like it or not, we're in this together, from the beginning to the end."

"Yes. An essential part of our group has pretty much been taken out." Marik said with only a slight glare cast Yami's way.

"So what kind of leads do we have to work off?" Bakura asked.

"Well, that one letter sent us to the docks… perhaps that's where they make their base." Yami said with a shrug.

"If that's the best we have to go on we're screwed." Marik muttered, but he and the other two stood anyway.

"Where are you going?" Malik asked.

"We have … business to attend to." Marik responded with a growl, "stay here."

"I'm coming too!" Malik said and stood.

"Me, too." Ryou stood next to Malik.

"No. If one of you has to come, then it'll be Malik. But, Ryou, we need someone to stay and protect Kaiba and Mokuba." Yami said gently.

"I'll stay." Ryou said, sitting again and picking up a magazine.

* * *

Yugi's POV

* * *

When I woke up I was on the cot again. It was still bright in the room and instead of concentrating on getting out, I looked around. It was a huge room, with one door and the entire floor except my corner was one solid color. The only furniture was my cot and a toilet near me that I hadn't noticed before. Ebony was sitting in a far corner, meditating it seemed. But the Eye of Horus was bright on her forehead.

"Necare! I have a job for you!" she shouted and a lean man came into the room.

"Yes, mistress?" he asked, bowing to her. I almost gagged.

"The yamis and Malik Ishtar are heading for the docks. Intercept them. Kill one or two if you wish, but make sure that the other two or three can get back to Kaiba and the others to tell them what happened. Oh, and good work with the car crash." She said, an evil glint in her eyes. He nodded and left.

"You can't do this! You'll never get away with it!" I shouted, unable to keep quiet for long.

"I already have. Mokuba is near death, Kaiba is unconscious in an ICU in the hospital, and two of the others will die before the night's end. If I can not kill any more than that, I will die happy." She said, laughing at my shocked expression.

* * *

Kageka: **kicks SJ** she isn't getting up soon. You all should be glad she made sure to write out review responses before she fainted.

Random anime characters: **blow on party favors** YAY RESPONSES!

Dragon Child: --; thank you cheerleaders. Reponses;

Haku – high as a kite? POCKY DOES THAT TO ME! Okay, calming down… sorry this update wasn't so fast. I had major writer's block but it's so far gone that I'm writing chapter six now too.

Koujo Silverwolf – wow. How sugar high were you when you wrote that response? And thanks for promoting my story on your story. Though a lot of good it did me. You have no idea how depressing this is! I read something with well over a thousand reviews once, and I have twelve. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Anyways, this update fast enough for you? (though it's not as fast as you update Asayake.)

Phoenixfire – Yeah, I know how it's like to have to fight for the Internet. We have four people, and one computer hooked up to the net. My sister's on here all the time and I have reviewers (though not many) to please. Missing updates is BAD! I've done it before, not fun! Yeah, the plot points are merging, sorta. Yugi will get one half, the rest of the gang will get the other, and y'all will get all of it. As to avoid confusion, or perhaps promote it, I'm not too sure yet. But I am leaning towards 3rd person more than Yugi's POV. The chisel helped, and now I've got this and I'll write chapter six as soon as I get this posted, though I'll have to wait a while to actually post it.

Carpe diem!


	6. Chapter Six

Saiyan Jedi: **still out cold**

Kageka: Oh boy. Anyway, the party continues!

Dragon Child: Yeah. But now some of our friends are over and getting their butts kicked by Yami in duel monsters. He's playing one heck of a simul.

Kageka: anyways, on with the fic!

* * *

* * *

No POV

* * *

"We're here. Now where's that guy?" Marik asked impatiently.

"I don't know… why don't you try looking!" Yami snapped.

"Jeeze! You'd think I insulted his mother or something." Marik muttered and they started searching the area.

"Who are you?" they heard someone ask after about ten minutes. They turned to the voice to see a lean, yet formidable looking, man standing at the end of the dock.

"You tell us who you are first." Malik demanded.

"I am Necare. And you are who I have been looking for." The man said and walked towards them, the shadows at his feet swirling.

"Then you're who we've been looking for." Bakura said.

"You think I'm the mistress? I'm not even the most, or least, of her servants." He said.

"Our enemy is a woman, is that what you said?!" Marik asked.

"That can't be right. Women aren't evil… are they?" Yami asked.

"Obviously you don't know many married men." Malik muttered.

"No. The mistress is still a girl. But enough talk. I came with one goal in mind." Necare said and ran towards them, pulling two swords, swords so large they were bordering on being claymores, from scabbards on his back.

"I can handle this guy." Bakura said, drawing two daggers so fast that none of the others could tell where he'd gotten them. Bakura ran towards Necare and sparks flew as their choice blades crossed. Necare grinned in anticipation and so did Bakura. Both had underestimated each other and were pleased that they would be getting a fight against a good opponent. They stepped away from each other and started circling, looking for weakness. After a few minutes, Bakura lunged, staying low. Necare swiped at him, but Bakura ducked lower, the blade whistling over his head. He lunged at Necare's stomach and Necare jumped back. As he landed, his shirt ripped open where Bakura had cut.

"Great job Bakura!" Malik said.

"Don't be too eager." Marik scolded as the two combatants started circling each other again.

"Why?" Malik asked. Marik snorted, meaning that he thought Malik was being stupid for not understanding.

"Because," Yami explained quietly, not wanting Necare to overhear in case he hadn't figured it out yet, "Bakura is indeed faster than Necare, but Necare has much more brute strength. If he can corner Bakura, he's done for."

"Oh." As Malik spoke, Necare lunged at Bakura with one sword, seemingly as hard as he could. Bakura tried to block with one dagger, but there was no way that would work and he had to cross them to get enough leverage to block the sword. Necare took his other sword and drove it towards Bakura's heart. He dropped to the ground, rolled, and stood in one swift movement, now at Necare's back. He tried to drive a dagger between Necare's shoulders, but Necare ducked and turned, standing up and slashing diagonally at Bakura with both swords. Bakura dodged but his right arm got cut open to the bone. He involuntarily dropped the dagger in his right hand and that arm hung limp and useless at his side. On the sidelines, Yami swore under his breath, knowing that Bakura could not win as disabled as that made him.

Necare apparently knew that as well, and he smiled in overconfidence. He lunged at Bakura, who baked up to avoid it. They repeated that three times, until Bakura hit a wall. Necare grinned and lunged with both swords, one aimed just below Bakura's crotch and the other at Bakura's heart. If Bakura moved, he would get stabbed. Bakura lunged at Necare, getting impaled through the heart and stabbing Necare in the shoulder in one move. Bakura stumbled forward, holding onto life by a thin string. Enraged that he had been injured, Necare took his second sword and decapitated the tomb robber.

At the hospital, Ryou screamed and fell forward – fainting onto the cold floor.

Blood gushed everywhere, mostly onto Necare, but a lot got onto Marik, Malik, and Yami. Malik turned around and vomited into the ocean and the two yamis trembled in rage. Somehow Bakura, Yami, Marik, and Seto had created a thin bond of friendship. Most likely it was because of the danger that they and the ones they protected were in, but despite the fact that it was totally circumstantial it was still there.

"Pharaoh, you're good at shadow games, right?" Marik asked.

"Yes." Yami turned to Necare, who had calmly, completely ignoring the fact that he was drenched in blood, pulled out a cellular telephone. Curiosity controlling Yami, he waited to see what would happen.

"Mistress, the tomb robber is dead. What are your orders?" he asked over the phone. Yami arched an eyebrow. Apparently Necare was either incapable of doing anything but following orders or he was a complete brownnoser. He took the phone from his ear, pointed part of it at Bakura's body, and pressed a button. It was a camera phone.

"That's sick." Marik said.

"She's going to show it to Yugi." Yami muttered. Normally he would have been confused at Necare's actions, but he knew what a camera phone did because Tea had gotten one to replace the cell phone smashed by the Rare Hunter in Battle City.

Necare listened to the phone some more and turned it off. As soon as it was back in his pocket, Yami pointed at Necare. "On behalf of Ryou, I challenge you to a shadow game."

* * *

* * *

Kageka: That was fun. Since SJ is out cold, I got to write the chapter.

Dragon Child: And since SJ is still out cold, Kageka gets to do review responses as well.

Kageka: Guys…

Yami, Bakura, and Marik: YAY REVIEWS!

Kageka: better make that singular, boys. Response –

Yami Kohaku - Ha! You read it before her! Thanks for the compliment. You were the only reviewer so you get plushies for all of your favorite everything, anime, manga, movies, TV shows, books, video games... everything. You also get to borrow me (Kagkea), Dragon Child, or Saiayn Jedi as a muse for one whole story! Not just a chapter, a story! Haku can borrow one of us, too, since she was a part of the review, but she doesn't get plushies.** Sticks tongue out**

Dragon Child: Don't be mean, yami.

Kageka: Anyways, that's the end of the response. As SJ would say, carpe diem!


	7. Chapter Seven

Saiyan Jedi: **wakes up groggily** (by the way, when it's bold in the authors notes and stuff, then it's an action. I did that because it won't let us do asterisks any more)

Kageka: I thought she'd be out for at least one more chapter! Darn!

Dragon Child: You knew it couldn't last.

Saiyan Jedi: What's going on?

Kageka: **very worried look on her face** Um … we wrote your last chapter.

Saiyan Jedi: I currently don't care as long as you did a good job of it, which it seems you did. Thank you.

Kageka: she didn't blow up? Sweet!!

Saiyan Jedi: Just say the disclaimer.

Kageka: I knew I forgot something last chapter.

Dragon Child: We don't own a thing. You sue and you get the wrath of all the anime characters (the group is comprised of the deadliest ones, by the way) who are having a party over here. SJ's awakening already pissed them off.

Saiyan Jedi: That reminds me, I think I'll kill you two for throwing a party while I was unconscious.

Dragon Child and Kageka: EEP!

Saiyan Jedi: one more thing. Dragon Child, will you tell them?

Dragon Child: We are assuming in this game that the queenside white rook is a1. I'll explain the rest of the notation later, for those non-chess players out there. I (SJ let me write the chess game) included the notation so that you could follow along.

* * *

* * *

No POV

"You challenge me to a shadow game? After seeing the easy in which I destroyed your friend? You're crazier than I thought." Necare said, incredulous.

"Yes." Yami nodded, his eyes shining with hate for Necare.

"Alright. What will the game be of?" Necare asked, getting serious. Yami looked around at the crates of boxes on the pier. One, sporting the title, "Queen City Classic Chess Tournament Surplus" caught his eye. He walked over to it and started yanking up the top of the crate.

"Malik, Marik, could you assist me?" He asked, struggling to get the crate open. They complied and ten minutes later, several dozen worn looking chess sets were visible. Yami turned to Necare. "I challenge you in a chess game. Of course it will also be a shadow game." Yami started carefully taking the chessboard and pieces out of the crate, whispering, "This shadow game will reveal your true nature." Malik and Marik had gone bad to stand off to the side, noticing an odd change in the former pharaoh. His eyes were lit with a fierceness that no one had really seen on his face since before Duelist Kingdom. As the ancient spirit silently set up the chessboard on top of a crate he was thinking of Seto and Mokuba in the hospital, Bakura dead and what Ryou's reaction could have been, and of course he was thinking of his own hikari, captured and held somewhere, no doubt being tortured either mentally or physically. "Necare has trespassed in too many souls." He muttered, using a line he hadn't said in a long, long time. He was truly back in his pre Duelist Kingdom style.

"Are you ready yet?" Necare asked as Yami placed the last piece on the board.

"Yes." Yami grabbed two smaller boxes and handed one to Necare. "You may chose which color you will be." Necare sat down on the white side as shadows swirled around them, dark and foreboding. One of the two would not survive the game. Malik, knowing how interested Seto would be, quickly found a piece of paper and pen and jotted down the notation as the game went on.

Necare started off moving a pawn to e4, Yami countering with the move Nc6. Without hesitation, Necare moved Nf3. Yami moved d6. Necare hesitated slightly, but then moved Bc4. Yami's swift counter was e5. Necare smiled and pulled 0-0. Yami looked as if expecting it, then moved Qf6. Necare took a long time deciding his next move, starting to sweat a little. Finally he moved Nh4. Bad idea, for Yami's swift retribution was Qxe4. Necare looked very shook up as he took a lengthy amount of time and eventually moved g3. Yami quickly moved Qg4. Necare gulped, knowing this game was not on his side, and moved Qe1. Yami, in turn, calmly moved Nf6. Necare, apparently attempting to capture Yami's queen, moved h3. Unfazed, Yami moved Qxe3. Necare seemed not to know where to move, so he moved d4, a very useless move. Yami moved Ng4 and allowed himself a smirk. One more move and he would beat Necare. Necare seemed to sense that and panicked, performing another useless move, f3. Yami calmly moved Qh2. "Checkmate." He said softly, then stood and glared down at Necare, hate growing in his eyes. Necare was staring at the board, dumbstruck. Yami continued, louder. "As your punishment game, you get to suffer a physical checkmate." The Puzzle glowed sharply and the Eye of Horus appeared. Yami pointed at Necare and yelled, "Checkmate!" the queen grew and began to look like a real woman. When she stopped growing, she was tall and regal, everything about her the same ebony black as the chess piece she was spawned from. Her hair was long, down to about her waist, and her dress flowing. Instead of a crown, she had a regal looking cap. She had something of a vest on over the top of the dress, one elegant hand gripping the long sleeve. In her other hand she held a flower. She turned to Necare and held the flower in both hands, stretching it until it was as long as a sword. She let go with one hand and with the other, gripped the flower's head. The flower turned into a sword and she thrust it through a rather enchanted looking Necare. Her narrow face showing anger, she then yanked the sword out of his chest and decapitated him. Then she turned to Yami, who bowed. She returned the bow and regained her original stance. She shrunk back down, but not to her original height. She was somewhat taller and had the same features as she'd had when human sized, though her face had a neutral expression and the flower was a flower once more. The other chess pieces were the normal shape and size. Yami pocketed the queen and let the shadows go.

"Shall we go check on Kaiba, Mokuba, and Ryou?" Malik asked. Yami nodded and they set off for the hospital.

They returned to the waiting area outside of Mokuba's room to find a doctor there, waiting for them.

"Did something happen?" Yami asked, worry in his voice.

"You are Yami Muto, Marik Ishtar, and Malik Ishtar, correct?" the doctor asked.

"Yes, that's us." Malik said anxiously.

"About forty-five minutes ago Ryou Bakura friend fainted while waiting here, we have him in a room in another wing waiting for him to get up, but he hasn't awoken yet. Seto Kaiba is awake and in a normal room, demanding to see you. Mokuba Kaiba is not doing so well. We believe he may not last the night."

* * *

* * *

Saiyan Jedi: and that would be the end of the chapter. It's really short, I know. But it took me forever to write.

Dragon Child: First off it took us forever to figure out what we wanted the shadow game to be, then it hit us. Chess. I am the best at it, though all three of us love it. That game was actually played. I was against a boy at the Third Annual Queen City Classic Chess Tournament. I lost. He only had a rating of 805, but I think he hasn't played in many tournaments to get his rating too high. My dad, a good player himself, looked over the notation and saw one big mistake (where I played my knight right into the kid's hands) but other than that, I played a good game. It's just that kid, in my opinion, has the makings of a grandmaster. Anyways, the capital letter in the notation indicates what piece was used.

Q = queen

N = knight

B = bishop

R = rook

K = king

No capital letter = pawn

x after the letter is a capture to that space.

The letters are from "a" to "h" and go along the side with the pieces and the letters are 1-8 and go along the other side. The 0-0 means a king side castle. Castling (on the kings side) is where the king is moved two spaces towards the rook and the rook is moved just to the other side of the king. For those who don't know, the setup of the pieces is rook, knight, bishop, queen, king, bishop, knight, and rook. After that, all you have to do is play the game out to see the moves.

Saiyan Jedi: to write that, we had to find our notation booklet from the tournament, which took forever. Then I had to find that blasted queen. We have a chess set that has that queen in it. After the school year starts I might be able to get a particular friend of mine with a digital camera take a picture of it and download a picture or two of that queen if any one's interested.

Kageka: who's the friend?

Saiyan Jedi: not telling. **coughGarethOrciunecough**

Dragon Child: you're odd. Anyways, we're also having a contest. We want you to tell us one place in the manga (up to the most recent Shonen Jump) where Yami says the shadow game revealing your true nature bit. If you name the one we used to get the quote from (exact quote "This shadow game will reveal your true nature"), you win Yami, Marik, Bakura, or Seto (or if you wish for a female muse you win one of Saiyan Jedi, Kageka, or Dragon Child) to act as a muse in one chapter of one of yours stories! Of course, as far as the four boys who are currently looking at me in terror, you'd have to use their personalities from this story at any point in the story. Even a dead Bakura is an option. And please tell us where you use your prize; we'd like to check it out. We did get that quote from one particular part in the manga, and it is quoted directly. The contest is only discontinued when someone wins.

Kageka: We also have another contest. You may have noticed, but we changed our summary for the story. If you can think of a better one that we like, you get the same prize as the above contest. You CAN win two muses if you win both. You are also allowed to chase us around with fiery mallets, if you win us, for killing Bakura… and whoever else may die before this fic is over. This contest will also last until someone wins.

Saiyan Jedi: On to the replies! And in alphabetical order, too!

Kageka: you dork! You have a fifty-fifty chance of getting it that way randomly!

Saiyan Jedi: So?

**Ceribi Motou **– You really don't have liscence to threaten me like that. I could just kill all of them to spite you. Anyways, it was Kageka who wrote it!

Kageka: You are a pain, SJ. Besides, you told me your plan! You said that Bakura, Y-

Saiyan Jedi: **quickly covers Kageka's mouth**

Kageka: mphf!

Saiyan Jedi: What was that? **Uncovers mouth**

Kageka: and M-

Saiyan Jedi: **covers Kageka's mouth again. After some muffles from Kageka, she uncovers it**

Kageka: and-

Saiyan Jedi: **covers her dark's mouth again, then releases it** You licked me!

Kageka: **still continuing previous sentence **would all die! And now you will too for covering my mouth.

Saiyan Jedi: After I finish this reply. Anyways, Ceribi, I will withhold whether or not they will be "brought back" until later. Seeing as the yamis all have their own bodies, it would be a tad bit harder to bring them back. It's not a matter of just getting sent to the shadow realm and coming back like Bakura has the frightening tendency to do. So, I take it this Altariel person is your yami? They can be a pain in the butt.

Kageka: WATCH IT CHIBI!

Dragon Child: If you didn't read our bio, then I'll tell you our odd way of doing things. SJ is actually our chibi side. The only reason she's also got the penname is because I write novels and short stories (and homework, I won't let them touch the homework!) and Kageka Role Plays, and all of us have something of a talent/passion for writing and it just wasn't fair to not let her write somewhere. I am the hikari, and Kageka is the dark. Her name means, roughly translated, shadow fire.

**Haku and Kohaku **– I realize I may be insulting when I ask you this but, who's Chihiro? I recognize the name, but can't place it. Though no doubt I'll smack myself in the forehead when you tell me. Read over the reply for Ceribi starting with Kageka's first statement and ending with her statement of "and you will too for covering my mouth" you'll see a conversation that will interest you. (I STILL can't believe she licked my hand!) But if you really wish for a fight, then ask me for one when I finish this fic. I want you to be either as mad or as happy with me as you'll get.

Saiyan Jedi: Ok, end of replies! I know most of this is author's notes, but that was so Dragon Child could explain the basics of chess. And the chapter is short because I found the absolute perfect cliffhanger! **Insert maniacal laughter**

Kageka: someday you're going to fall off one of your cliffhangers.

Saiyan Jedi: you can shut up now. To the rest of you;

Carpe diem!


	8. Chapter Eight

Dragon Child: **starry** **eyed**

Kageka: What's her problem?

Saiyan Jedi: she's still happy that she got to do the chess game last chapter.

Kageka: oh. I wasn't like that when I got to kill off Bakura.

Saiyan Jedi: Yeah, well, you should be in hiding. My reviewers wanted to kill you.

Kageka: Well, the other darks didn't.

Saiyan Jedi: they don't have their own names … wait, he does … oh never mind!

Kageka: afraid of coming into a battle of wits unarmed?

Saiyan Jedi: **tries her hardest not to strangle Kageka. Her attempts are in vain as she gives in and starts chasing Kageka around the room, which happens to be a small bedroom, where the party is located as well. Minds out of the gutter, people.**

Party guests (remember, from chapter five): --;

Kazuma Torisuna (one of the guests. Guess from which anime/manga, no prize, though): Kageka conned me into doing the disclaimer. SJ, Dragon Child, and Kageka own nothing. Remember what Kageka's hikari said last time? You sue and you get the wraith of the anime characters they invited to their party. I'm one of them. And I will hurt you if you sue.

Dragon Child: **snaps out of chess-induced stupor** I have a name, it's Dragon Child, USE IT!

Kazuma: No.

Dragon Child: **whispering to Saiyan Jedi, who has called a temporary truce with Kageka** What's his problem?

Saiyan Jedi: He found out that Kageka can kick his sorry butt and is currently infatuated with her. Totally not in character for him, but he makes a good bodyguard. Does whatever Kageka wants him to.

Dragon Child: then how'd she con him into doing the disclaimer?

Kageka: I told him I'd kiss him. I added, while he was eager to do my bidding, that only near Christmas and only under mistletoe.

Saiyan Jedi: we never get mistletoe.

Kageka: exactly. He'll make a good muse, hopefully.

Saiyan Jedi: Ok, the chapter is extra long this time. Hope you enjoy!

hikari to yami

yami to hikari

* * *

* * *

NO POV

* * *

As the doctor finished, Yami's eyes narrowed, looking as if he were about ready to hurt the doctor.

"Thank you for telling us, now if you could tell us where Seto Kaiba's room is, we would appreciate it." Malik said to the doctor, but hissed to Marik, Get Yami under control or something! He looks more bloodthirsty than you EVER have!

Make me.

Do you really think if he looses his cool, you'll be excluded from his wraith? Without Yugi here, you, I , and Kaiba may just be likely targets.

Now that you put it that way, alright.

While Malik and the doctor had a small conversation on where Seto's room was located, Marik took Yami's elbow and led him off a ways.

"Pharaoh, do you know just how out of control you look?" Marik asked, trying to be slightly subtle.

"Why?" Yami snapped.

"Ok, new question. How would your hikari react if he saw you enjoying killing Necare and shooting death glares at a doctor who did absolutely nothing wrong to you?"

"I did not enjoy killing that man."

"You did. I can see it in your eyes. I don't think most would be able to see it, but I know what that expression looks like. I see it in the mirror every day."

Yami sighed. "You're right… though I never thought I'd see the day when I said that. I did enjoy it to some extent, but I wouldn't have if that man hadn't killed the tomb robber."

"I know what you mean. That feeling is called revenge. However slight it may be, and however much I hate to say it, this situation seems to have made you, the tomb robber, Kaiba, and I hesitant friends. That, however, does not mean that my hikari or I will 'hang out' with you and your hikari's friends."

"I think the term 'friendly rival' will appeal to you more than simply friend."

"Sounds better. I think my hikari got the directions to Kaiba's room." The two of them walked back over to Malik, who seemed to be waiting for them. He nodded when he saw Yami, who was a lot calmer looking.

You must've said something nice for him to react so much in such a short amount of time.

I said what I needed to so that he wouldn't go over the edge and stat destroying everything in sight to get his precious hikari back.

Sure.

They arrived at Seto's room to find a nurse running out of the room in absolute hysterics.

"Yes, he is most definitely back to normal." Yami said, something of a half grimace half smile on his face.

As they walked in, they heard Seto snap, "If you say I'm not allowed to see my brother one more time, I'll have the staff of this entire wing fired!"

"Kaiba, it's us." Yami said, trying to sound soothing.

"Oh. Where have you been? They said that Ryou fainted and the rest of you had disappeared somewhere." Seto demanded. Malik and Marik sat down in chairs and Yami stared out the window. It was getting on morning and the first rays of light were trying to peek over the horizon.

"We were trying to follow the only semi-solid lead we have." Marik said. Seto raised an eyebrow and Marik added, "I know it sounds like a stupid thing to do, but it was the only productive thing we could do." Seto nodded and Malik relayed everything, giving Seto the piece of paper that he'd written the notation down on. Seto studied the paper, then had Malik get Seto's laptop out of the pile of possessions that the Kaibas had had with them in the car accident. Somehow, the laptop had remained perfectly unharmed. Seto then used a computer program on the computer to replay the game, commenting on how well Yami played. He also asked to look at the queen, which Yami had pocketed.

"There is still one thing I don't get about the match. Apparently this Necare was skilled, and seemed confident when Yami challenged him, right?" Seto paused, idly turning over the chess piece in his hand and when Malik nodded, he continued. "From what else you've said about him, he should have been a tougher opponent. So why did Necare play such a bad game?"

"The shadow game. It brought out his true nature. He only played a bad game after castling, before castling he was playing a set opening – one that you don't need to think to play. I had a hunch that he was the kind of person who was so used to taking orders that his nature is to only make big decisions after being ordered to do so. He couldn't make the right kind of decision, so he lost horridly." Yami said, still staring out the window.

Seto scowled, but said nothing. That was not the kind of answer he was looking for. He wasn't sure what kind of answer he wanted, though.

Over the next two days they waited and researched, trying to get information on their enemy. Ryou had woken up and been released the day after he fainted, though he was being quieter than normal. Mokuba had surprised many and seemed to be making a full recovery.

On the third day they released Seto from the hospital and moved Mokuba to a regular room. Before he left the hospital, Seto insisted on visiting his brother.

Seto, Yami, Malik, Ryou, and Marik walked into the room, all of them solemn. In their research they had found nothing. But what they saw was a welcome surprise. Mokuba was sitting up in bed, smiling brightly at them, "Hi, big brother." He said and Seto quite literally ran to Mokuba's side and hugged him.

"I thought I'd lost you." Seto muttered, tears in his eyes. The others walked into the room, glad to see the Kaiba brothers reunited, but not wanting to intrude on their moment. Eventually Seto let go of Mokuba, though he didn't leave the boy's side for the rest of the visit.

* * *

Yugi's POV

* * *

"I can't believe that incompetent fool killed Necare" Ebony shouted and I winced. When she was angry, it was not good for me. She'd been sulking about Yami beating her second-in-command for three days, and I was actually getting rather sick of it. So, I decided that today would be different.

"Well, that's what happens when you send an idiot to do your dirty work." I said. I know it wasn't something I'd normally say, but days of this imprisonment had left me snappish.

"Don't you dare insult Necare!" Ebony snapped, coming over and backhanding me in the face, sending me reeling onto my bed.

"Then don't insult my yami!" I retorted.

"I think I'll have some fun with you, send a warning to your yami." she sneered, almost gently placing a hand on my chest. I was shocked, I had expected that she'd shove me onto one of the electrified tiles. What actually came was much, much worse, though. Pain shot through her hand to me, filling my entire body. I screamed, I'm sure of it, but I don't really remember yelling. All I remember is the pain, and trying to reach Yami through that haze of pain. I felt his warm, comforting presence just out of my reach, and I knew he felt some of my pain. I wished I could die, so that the pain would just end, but I didn't and the pain went on and on. Finally it ended, I collapsed onto my bed, weeping.

Yami flinched. "Excuse me." he muttered and walked off into the bathroom in Mokuba's hospital room. As soon as the door was locked, he doubled over in pain and tried not to yell. He knew it was simply shadow pain, only a portion of the pain Yugi was feeling at that instant, but that didn't make it any less real. "Mou hitori no boku, what is she doing to you?" He mumbled through gritted teeth. All of a sudden, he felt Yugi's presence, just out of his mental reach. In his mind he reached out to Yugi, but then, all of a sudden, the pain was gone. So was Yugi's presence. Yugi was still alive, but that almost-closeness was gone. To Yami, it felt like an eternity had passed, but a quick glance at his watch showed that it had been only three minutes. To keep up a normal appearance around Mokuba, he flushed the toilet and ran the water, sticking his hands briefly under the faucet before turning it off so that his hands would at least look wet. With that he unlocked the door and returned to his friends.

* * *

* * *

Saiyan Jedi: Wow. That was not as long as I wanted it.

Dragon Child: things happen. Though not in this chapter they didn't! **snickers**

Kageka: **is trying to keep Kazuma off her** Yeah, well, at least someone got the contest right!

All three: Yay! Go Phoenixfire!

Saiyan Jedi: Yep, Phoenixfire-k has figured out where the quoite is from. He has chosen to use Bakura in a chapter of his mass crossover, Yugioh vs. Pokemon! It's got stuff from EVERYWHERE! And me, too.

Kageka: but not us, her two beautiful muses.

Saiyan Jedi: BEAUTIFUL?! YOU TWO?! **doubles over laughing and won't stop**

Kageka and Dragon Child: grrrrr….

Kageka: If you would, Kazuma.

Kazuma: Death Bullet of …

Kageka: **whispering** don't you care say love.

Kazuma: LOVE!

Kageka: --; I hate you.

Saiyan Jedi: o pretty stars! **falls over and practically dies**

Kageka: On with the party, but first, we'll do SJ's review replies.

* * *

**Ceribi** – am I that obvious? Yeah, they might die. I haven't really figured it out yet. The characters and story write themselves, I'm just a vessel. Your yami is married?! Ew!

Kageka: you said it!

Saiyan Jedi: anyways, sorry. You didn't win the contest. But you can, however, still give me ideas for a new summary. You could win that.

**Haku** – I've got words to say to you, it's just I don't say most of what I want to say. What in the heck do you mean, that stuff on your bio?! Anyways, hope you decide to come back eventually. Ya know I almost got in trouble because of you. I started yelling "What the heck! No, you can't do that to me!" mom told me to be quiet. Anyways, hope you come back eventually. I know someone who did (most likely because she said on her bio that maybe she'd get inspired by a box of pop tarts and I know her in real life so I told her she was getting pop tarts for Christmas.) Farewell. **bows to you**

**Phoenixfire** – YAY! **throws confetti** YOU WON!!!!! **shoves Bakura at you** have him, we're done with him, as far as I know. Ryou might get nightmares with him in them though … but otherwise we're done with him.

Bakura: hey! No rough handling the dead guy!

Saiyan Jedi: **ignoring Bakura** And as far as remembering you, I can't forget you! I mean, you review for me and I'm in one of your fics! Hard to forget someone like that. If you are going to college near Cincinnati we need to meet sometime in the real world. That would be awesome. If you're going to college NOT near Cincinnati, then we can meet at Ohayocon in Columbus in January. You need to come as Seto, then I'd recognize you. **Snickers**

Dragon Child: and tourneys are awesome. I'm not as an avid chess player as most there, but I've got the autographs of two grandmasters that played a blindfolded game against each other. I also got a book of games that I should have been studying, but haven't. I always loose, because everyone's so much better than me, but in fall I'm going to join our high school chess team. Maybe I'll be better. I took a chess class once and beat, by some stroke of luck, the best kid in the class. I was the worst. And the tournament (two years in a row I went to the same tournament) I was at was for pre-schoolers through high school seniors there was a woman who carved chess pieces out of cheese and let the kids eat the extra cheese, which I pigged out on, and they had a giant chess set, the king (always the tallest piece) was at least three or four feet tall! The tournament was held at one of the clubhouses in the Paul Brown stadium and it was sponsored by the Bengals and I met some of them the first year! And the simuls were awesome! A simul in chess is where a chess master, or grandmaster, goes around and plays like forty people at once. There were somewhere around five simuls going on, and each one had forty or so kids and all of them were full!

Kageka: you know, I told my anime club friends about you. I said that you seemed like you loved my stuff and you're a college student and they all laughed with one of those "you-like-him-or-he-likes-you" laughs. I was insulted. We think it's a compliment, though, that you said this fic was getting creepy. Though this chapter is pretty much dead boring. About Bakura fighting, I've actually never really seen a fic with fight scenes where he doesn't know how to fight. He kicks butt!

Saiyan Jedi: yeah, I'm writing a fic about Kageka's Egyptian past (dude, why has no one ever done this?! It's such a good idea!) since, of course, she was the head of the ancient Egyptian armed forces she got in more than one little tussle with Bakrua and respects him as a fighter. She hates him as a person though.

**End Replies!**

* * *

Kageka: **pokes SJ with the Millennium Rod, which she stole from Malik, who REALLY wants it back** yeah, she'll be out a while.

Dragon Child: **humming to the Veggie Tales "Ten Years of Veggie Tales Greatest Hits"**

Kageka: did you hear me?

Dragon Child: yeah, but who cares. The party guests still haven't left so it's not like we can invite them again. Just end the fic.

Kageka: 'kay.

Carpe diem!


End file.
